India's foreign exchange reserves surged by a healthy $2.788 billion to $343.2 billion in the week to April 17.
Gold reserves in the reporting week increased by $707 million to $33.52 billion.
Country's foreign exchange reserves dropped by $2.063 billion to $ 335.729 billion in the week to March 13.
'If you look at the order books of capital equipment companies or money deployed on the ground, there is forward movement in terms of actual investment by the private sector.'
International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath tells Indivjal Dhasmana high-frequency indicators for the third quarter of 2021 indicate momentum in economic recovery in India.
The reserves nearing $ 428 billion can take care of imports for almost 10 months, according to market experts.
Foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by $1.404 billion to $338.897 billion in the reporting week
Five Indian-origin women executives have made it to Barron's prestigious annual '100 Most Influential Women in US Finance' list for achieving positions of prominence in the financial services industry and helping shape its future. Barron's is a sister publication of the Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones and Company. "The list honours established and emerging leaders in financial services, the corporate world, nonprofit organisations, and government," the magazine said in a press release.
The next annual budget of India will have to be very carefully structured to sustain the country's growth momentum, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday, noting that it will also address inflation concerns. Visiting Washington DC to attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the finance minister was responding to a question on the next year's Budget at a fire-side chat with eminent economist Eshwar Prasad at the prestigious Brookings Institute. "Specifics (of the next Budget) may be difficult at this stage because it's a bit too early. "But broadly, the growth priorities will be kept absolutely on the top. "Even as I speak about the concerns that inflation brings before me. So, inflation concerns will have to be addressed. "But then how would you manage growth would be the natural question," Sitharaman said.
The marginal decline in reserves was on account of fall in foreign currency assets
Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company (IHC), one of the largest sovereign funds that manages assets close to $100 billion, has reaffirmed its support to the Adani Group, saying its outlook on investments in the group remains unchanged despite the US indictment of the conglomerate's founder chairman Gautam Adani. "Our partnership with the Adani Group reflects our confidence in their contributions to the green energy and sustainability sectors," IHC, one of Adani group's key foreign investors, said in a statement.
Keen to capitalise on the growing geopolitical support from African nations after the recently concluded G20 Summit, India is working with the African Union to hold the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit later this year in Kenya's Nairobi, sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the mega meet along with as many as 50 African leaders, they added. First held in New Delhi in 2008, the India-Africa Forum Summit marked India's initial diplomatic efforts to seek a comprehensive partnership with the African bloc of nations as a whole, at a time when China had begun its own outreach.
India needs to strengthen its economic growth, says IMF.
Foreign currency assets rose $1.569 billion to $329.58 billion
The foreign exchange kitty had crossed the half-a-trillion mark for the first time in the week ended June 5, 2020, after it had swelled by $8.223 billion to stand at $501.703 billion.
The reserves had touched a life-time high of $426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018.
India's decision to ban the export of non-basmati white rice has pushed up global prices, prompting multilateral lending agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to call for a reconsideration of the move. Though nothing has been spelled out yet officially, sources said, the government might consider requests for government-to-government sale of non-basmati white rice, especially to West African nations where India is a major supplier. Also, traders and exporters of specialty regional rice varieties like sona masuri or gobindo bhog feel that they have been short-changed.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating a complex network of agents and facilitators in India, Canada, and the US who assist Indians in illegally entering the US through fraudulent admissions to Canadian colleges. Over 8,500 financial transactions are under scrutiny by the ED in a case related to money laundering, stemming from a 2023 Gujarat Police crime branch FIR. The investigation includes international financial companies involved in remittances abroad, with the ED conducting 35 searches in the past year and seizing assets worth Rs 92 lakh. The issue has gained significant attention following the deportation of 104 Indians from the US on Wednesday. The investigation is linked to the tragic death of an Indian family in January 2022, who perished while attempting to cross the Canada-US border illegally. The ED has identified a network of agents and facilitators who manage and facilitate the stay, transportation, visa arrangements, and legal matters of illegal immigrants who gained admission to Canadian colleges through fraudulent means. The investigation has revealed that the fees paid to Canadian colleges were remitted back to individuals' accounts, with around 8,500 transactions identified between September 2021 and August 2024. The ED suspects that approximately 370 individuals have entered the US using this illegal immigration scheme. The agency has recorded statements from parents and guardians of students enrolled in Canadian colleges and continues its investigation.
The reserves had jumped $2.03 billion to $277.38 billion in the previous week.
The international community counts a lot on India's leadership of the G-20 at a time when the world is faced with the continued economic slowdown and social distress, the chief of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva has said. "India, which is the president of G-20 countries, remains among the countries that perform better than the global average and by a good percentage," IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters during a media roundtable on Thursday. India formally assumed the G20 (Group of 20) Presidency on December 1.
Extreme poverty in India declined by 12.3 percentage points between 2011 and 2019, with rural areas doing better than urban centres, according to a working paper of the World Bank. India has not released a new household consumption survey since the NSS from 2011. By extension, the country has not released any official estimates of poverty and inequality for over a decade now, added the paper co-authored by economists Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide.
While the Reserve Bank and the Economic Survey of the finance ministry have projected India to grow at 6.9 per cent and 6.5 per cent in current fiscal, the International Monetary Fund estimates it to be 6.6 per cent.
Rise in reserves was predominantly on account of increase in FCAs
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan says global markets are at risk of a "crash" should investors start bailing out of risky assets created by the loose monetary policies of developed economies.
The reserves had touched an all-time high of $367.16 billion previously
The NSE Nifty closed lower by 32.15 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 9,984.80.
Gold reserves declined by $346.2 million.
Foreign currency assets increase by $3.902 billion
'We are cautious only on sub-sectors that have seen massive melt-up during the past six months.'
Foreign exchange reserves have hit a fresh high.
Notably, Ukrainian forces disabling bridges across the Dnipro river and attacking Russian supply lines made it very difficult for Russia to defend the occupied territory.
Pakistan is on the verge of strong action by FATF, given its inadequate performance, whereby it managed to pass in only six of 27 items, an official privy to the development said.
The anti-government protests near the presidential secretariat in Colombo resumed on Sunday after the authorities lifted the nation-wide curfew to celebrate the Vesak -- what we call Buddha Purnima in India -- festival.
Gita Gopinath, the IMF's Indian-American chief economist has been promoted as its First Deputy Managing Director recognising her exceptional intellectual leadership in helping the global economy and the Fund to navigate the "twists and turns" of the "worst economic crisis of our lives". Gopinath would replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the International Monetary Fund early next year, Kristalina Georgieva, IMF's managing director announced on Thursday. Gopinath, who was scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022, has decided to stay, she said. Gopinath, 49, has served as the first female chief economist of the Washington-based global lender for three years.
Reserves had touched an all-time high of $355.46 billion in the week to June 19.
A continued focus on low inflation will be important to keeping gold imports, IMF said.
'If there is a push towards a Marxist oriented government it will be dangerous.' 'We have seen this in Nepal and Myanmar and it will be a concern for India if it is surrounded by countries with such political dispensations.'
The new government that presents the full Budget for 2024-2025 in July should be ready to restructure the way divestment is managed and implemented, proposes A K Bhattacharya.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said speaking Hindi gives her 'shivers' and she speaks the language with hesitation.
In the previous week, total reserves dropped by $273.8 million to $312.382 billion.
